Unless I’m much mistaken, this video shows two R Gruppe friends of mine weaving Cult of Porsche through the California pines. Sums up what happens on a lot of the R Gruppe Porsche hot rod drives I’ve taken part in.
Check out the comments: there’s always someone who wants to rain on a parade. Whatever way you turn the wheel and whoever makes a comment, fun is fun. Critics can only take the fun away when you give them the power.
Been meaning to uncover my Carrera 3.0 for a while and stick the battery on charge. Did it this evening and found a big surprise hiding under the cover. The roof, rear arches and scuttle are peppered with microblisters. What a pain in the arse!
It’s not a huge deal, as the guys at Racing Restorations have some Porsche rust & bodywork repair work to do for me: repairing the dents I made over the driver’s door in Monaco, and sorting a bodged repair from before my time on an offside rear quarter replacement. So we’ll have to paint lots of the the car anyway, as matching this custom Continental Orange mix won’t be easy.
While we’re chopping about, I might get them to make a nicer job on the oil cooler nose box (done before me), and change an inner rear wing where it’s been hammered out in the past, so they might cut the rear quarter panel off for that. I’ll find Rob’s boys some other stuff to do: maybe chop the sills open to look for any rot. Tuthills have some nice carbon 935-style mirrors coming through on a new build, so maybe I’ll switch to those too. And fit a Safari roof vent! (might be just kidding)
I suppose this only really bugs me as there was nothing wrong with the paint when it went under cover, and the cover is not some cheap blanket affair: it’s a supposedly breathable genuine Porsche Tequipment accessory.
But I’m not blaming the cover and I don’t blame the car. I’ve neglected the Orange for long enough, so will just get it fixed. First thing to do is drag it out and run it to for an MOT when the battery’s charged. That’ll clean the mildew off the throttle.
The market for used Porsche cars of all ages continues to exceed most expectations. I say ‘most’, as I assume someone out there expected this, but I certainly didn’t. Air-cooled classics are still flying along, and collectable water-cooled models are also doing well. Internet asking prices tell one story but less well known are the cars that sell behind the scenes, without ever being advertised.
Scarcely a week goes by without an email offering to buy my Orange 1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 Coupe, or asking for help finding a well priced project, be it 911 or 944 Cabriolet (just had one of those mails). When I’m offered a project, or asked for advice on where to sell project cars, I point people towards eBay, as I believe in the market and that is where the market decides, or where you get the offer that leads to an early sale.
Away from the exposure of eBay is a different market, fuelled by collectors leveraging networks to find the real gems. I’m not talking silly-money Carrera RS, but slightly closer to normal. The 993 RS and 996 GT3 seen here are good examples of sought-after Porsches, recently sold without being advertised. If I was building a collection for the future, both of these would have been on my list, as would the 964 Turbo which also sold to the 993RS buyer.
If you’re watching the classifieds looking for a bargain collectable, you might be wasting your time. Try emailing those with good connections to a wide range of trade and private contacts. Yes, you’ll give some margin away to a dealer to buy off-radar, beyond reach of the market, but if you pay 5% over the odds and the market jumps 20% between here and the end of 2015*, then so what?
These “private trade” sales are where independent dealerships score big-time over official Porsche centres. Don’t be afraid to discuss your intentions with respected independent specialists. Ask for personal recommendations and find the really good ones: don’t accept everything you read on forums. Do your own research and use common sense.
*note: this is not a market prediction!
Another fun email exchange this week was with Jim in Down Under, concerning his 1967 Porsche 911 Soft Window Targa.
“The Targa is almost complete: all very good gaps, road registered and all electrics work. Only real problem is bad rust in a difficult spot around the pedal box area, fiddly to fix but will happen. Interior is so good that I plan to detail it to within an inch of its life and leave as is.
“About the only thing missing is the ash tray and they are a bit hard to find unfortunately (email if you can help – JG). Even the Targa top which needs full restoration is absolutely complete. The early cars had a lot more thin metal detail trim than later cars and they would be impossible to find and a nightmare to make, so good that it’s all here on my car.”
The left-hand drive Porsche came to Australia from the US (left hand drive cars over thirty years old are OK in Australia) and sat in a barn for twelve years. Jim bought it from the importer and send it to Autohaus Hamilton for recommissioning, with instructions not to disturb the patina. Hamiltons flushed the fuel tank, cleaned the lines and rebuilt the carbs, sorted some failed bushes, a dud master cylinder and brakes, and it was ready to go.
Too many people would sand and repaint this car, without savouring it as it came. Kudos to Jim for sticking with his patina-rich classic 911 Targa: it snaps, crackles and pops!
Got a Porsche project you want to share with the world? You know what we like to feature: doesn’t have to be a 911. Send us some pics and a couple of words: mail@ferdinandmagazine.com.
The thrill of working with Ricoh UK to print our first Cult of Porsche book keeps growing. This week is my first design meet with the creative team, so Jamie and I have been chopping and changing the list of cars to feature in our three-book series.
We have lots of content to draw upon. As well as shooting brand new material only available in this series, there is some epic work dating back across our seven-year association. Do we try to pick our favourites for book one, or do we go with famous names, fancy locations, biggest build budgets?
None of the above. Our work is not about money, stance or scene. It follows an atomic string of Porsche through standard cars and hot rods, race cars and projects. It is the ghost that rides in the passenger seat, occasionally inhabiting the driver.
With light and shade at the heart of our material, it takes a special kind of photography to really tell the story. Jamie’s multi-layered images pull every ounce of drama from the subject. The energy Mr Lipman brings to our partnership is indescribably excellent.
Reviewing the work we’ve done to date for our first book together, I can’t imagine that many people get to experience chemistry this explosive. Working with James is the most exciting thing I have ever done. It’s not a job: it’s a match made in heaven. And so are these cars and their owners.